Rainbow Phoenix Dress

Birth of a Rainbow Phoenix
(April 2023)

From the ashes of expectation, a new vision takes flight.

Once a wedding dress, steeped in tradition and bound by unseen threads of family, culture, and gender roles—now, a living canvas of transformation.

Mixed media: fabric, acrylic paint, community, photography, nature.

This is more than art.

This is becoming.

BIRTH OF A RAINBOW PHOENIX

A celebration of birth, growth, death, and rebirth in my life.

A symbolic art experience that took my original wedding dress—the one that had been hanging in my wardrobe for 13 years.
A dress that never fulfilled its intended destiny, since I canceled my wedding.

This dress seemed infused with meaning and expectations.
Family expectations, gender expectations, church and cultural expectations—all of which I have since rethought and redesigned in my life.

I veered away from tradition over a decade ago, perhaps unconsciously.
Now, my decisions are intentional.
Now, I am certain of what I desire to create for my life and with it.
The adventure lies in how I will create it.

I pulled my unfulfilled wedding dress from my wardrobe, took her to a festival, and let her be reborn among the beauty of nature and the humans of Confest.

She became a vessel for my symbolic rebirth.

The Fire Burns and Releases:

My fear of having and sharing my creative expression.
The need to separate or hide parts of myself.
Holding back on my vision to create and connect.
Playing it safe to be accepted.
Prioritizing others’ and cultural expectations over my own—without question.

The Fire BIRTHS:

My focus on what nurtures growth and expansion.
A commitment to prioritizing art and valuing my own expression.
Choosing my own path, no matter how whimsical or bizarre it may seem to my past self.
Listening to my own desires and needs—then asking for them!

As a child, I was the Patchwork Girl.

Now, I emerge as Kaleidoscope!